Letters

Dear Editor,
Wow! What a couple days Los Alamos has experienced.
I want to first begin by thanking my fellow officers on the Republican Party of Los Alamos Executive Board. As stated in my resignation e-mail, their hard work and diligence was uncanny and lead to great success.
James Chrobocinski was always willing to provide us with whatever we needed. Kelly Benner not only planned our events by herself, but also kept us all in line.
Lisa Shin brought a new energy into the party from national campaign. Jane Gordon could always make us laugh, and make sure we were spending our money wisely. Mary Wilhoit, who graciously filled in whenever we needed her. Finally, Bill McKerely, who could always make us smile and give the best advice.
You all have been amazing, and I truly wish that none of this excitement had happened to our wonderful group. For that, I truly apologize.
I next want to thank Los Alamos for all their support! It has simply amazed me how many of you have reached out to check on me, or provide me encouragement. The outpour has simply made me proud to be a resident of Los Alamos.

Recently, Los Alamos County Council chose to publish an email of a citizen of Los Alamos in the Los Alamos Daily Post. Instead of attacking the author we should also be asking, “Why did the Council release this private email for publication?” What did our County Council have to gain from releasing this email?

Does this mean that all citizens should fear that their personal correspondence to the council, may also be published? Apparently so! Many county residents have chosen to remain silent in their opposition to the Rec Bond Vote, for fear of retaliation. It seems as though fear and intimidation are campaign tactics not only approved, but also implemented by members of our own County Council. When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny – Thomas Jefferson.

Concerning the Rec Bond...

Not only am I concerned about the enormous cost of these projects, potential cost overruns, and jeopardizing future Capital projects, I am also concerned when County Councilors serve special interests over the public interest. In this case, elected officials are using public funds to lobby for these interests, then use public debt to finance them.

Dear Editor,
The county is expecting a $1.3 million dollar shortfall this year and this is on top of the uncertainty of what the GRT from the lab will be so now is NOT the time to be asking property owners to fund unnecessary projects that will only cause a greater deficit in the coming years.
Property owners are already having to pay higher property taxes thanks to UNM-LA not being able to manage their own finances. Now they want all of us to pay even more so they can fund useless projects that only benefit the few with no financial benefit to the town as a whole.
The county can’t manage the money they have now! For instance, how many thousands of dollars were wasted on that stupid symbol painted on the street at the intersection of 15th and Central Avenue where you can¹t tell what it is or says. And what happened to the money budgeted to install the HVAC system at the library? The list of wasteful spending in L.A. goes on and on.
Voters need to also consider all the delays, cutbacks, and redesigns that occurred with the “new” community center/club house at the golf course.

Dear Editor,
I am writing in support of the Rec Bond. After a year and a half of public meetings and countless hours of staff and volunteer research and planning, the county has put together a well thought out package of recreation projects. These facilities will help meet the needs of young families, student athletes and adults of all ages. They will also help increase our property values, benefit our schools and make Los Alamos a more attractive place to live for new hires to the Lab.
I believe passing the recreation bond will help move Los Alamos county forward. It’s very unlikely that my family will use every facility regularly and that¹s OK. However, they will provide many residents and visitors with new and better recreation options, and that makes Los Alamos a stronger, healthier community.
Is the plan perfect? Probably not, but that is an impossible standard to meet when trying to meet the needs and wants of all kinds of stakeholders.
This is, however, a very good plan to upgrade our recreation options. Please don’t let Perfect be the enemy of Very Good. Vote yes for the Rec Bond.
Ellen Ben-Naim
Los Alamos

Dear Editor,
As I was walking the loop in White Rock this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the site preparation for the crosswalk I requested at Rover and Bryce has started.
On June 6, I wrote a letter to Public Works listing all the reasons a crosswalk is needed. A short time later, a Public Works employee stopped by my house and said they agreed with me but site prep would have to be done first.
It never happened and I knew the reason was no money. I wrote to the County Council on April 10 and asked if they could help. I was called by someone in Public Works and told that they were able to allot $30,000 to the project but it could take up to four months to do it. I told him that was fine but if it wasn’t done in four months I would be presenting the County Council with a petition.
I want to thank both the County Council and Public Works for the timely response to something which has been needed for years. Public Works should not have to rob Peter to pay Paul for a crosswalk. If the county doesn’t have the money to fund necessary work to our streets and roads, we are in big trouble. It is a lot cheaper to maintain what we have then to build something new.
Camille Morrison
Los Alamos

Dear Editor,
I just learned that 2017 will be Russ Gordon’s last summer concert series. Like thousands of residents, I have greatly enjoyed Gordon’s Summer Concerts over the past 30 years and for more than a decade, my wife and I have contributed a few hundred dollars each year to Russ’ program. I hope, somehow, that the Summer Concert tradition will be continued indefinitely, but for now, I wish to initiate lasting recognition of the effort Russ has made towards our community’s wellbeing. Russ’ initiative has been truly a ‘Labor of Love’ that will be greatly missed and potentially very difficult to replace.
I am willing to take the lead on obtaining a life-size sculpture of Russ, somewhat suggested by the photo of Russ shows in the Los Alamos Daily Post’s April 27 issue. Ideally, the sculpture would be ready for dedication at Gordon’s last Ashley Pond concert on Sept. 8.

When I hear people saying “roads first” in response to the Rec Bond, I’m sympathetic. I also drive down Trinity and despair at the crumbling curbs.

The thing is, Trinity Drive is a state road it’s NM 502, which continues along East Road. Other roads folks are complaining about are state-owned as well: the Truck Route and the whole stretch of NM 4, from the Y through White Rock and out to Bandelier. Rendija Road to the Sportsmen¹s Club is a forest road.

If people want these roads fixed, they should appeal to the state, not the county. The Rec Bond has nothing to do with these roads, nor does it have anything to do with eyesores such as Mari-Mac, which is owned by Smith¹s. The county can enforce code violations, but it cannot repair infrastructure it doesn’t own.

I encourage others to call or email the Public Works department for info on infrastructure.

In addition to the above facts, I learned that there¹s a five-year plan to rebuild the few county roads that need it, with an $18.4 million budget already adopted by the County Council.

Dear Editor,
At a recent annual presentation to community leaders in Santa Fe by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Nuclear Security, Administration (U.S. Department of Energy), a participant asked if LANL could offer child care for its employees.
The response from both Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan and Kim Davis Lebak of DOE/NNSA was “no” for liability reasons.
The National Laboratory that developed the first nuclear weapon in the history of mankind is concerned about the liability of a child care center.
Think about it.
Jack Sullivan
Los Alamos

Have open mind for Rec Bond vote

Dear Editor,
Please read, and please have an open mind. Our family always says, options are always better than no options!
Even if you don¹t care, or don’t like it, consider “voting yes” to the upcoming rec bond. There are many families in Los Alamos that do want these recreational facilities.
We should support that desire and the excitement that it is generating. When the seniors needed money for improving the senior center, many of us voted “yes.” How does that benefit me? I’m not a senior.

When the county’s consultants asked which recreation projects were most favored, golf course work was just about last on the list. Yet it gets a $4.5 million piece of the bond pie.
Why? “Because,” as Mallory so nicely put it, “it’s there.”
So much has been invested that it’s nearly unthinkable to do anything other than maintain and upgrade the course, even though most taxpayers either don’t care or actively wish it were gone. They’d probably be annoyed to learn it costs the county about half a million dollars a year out-of-pocket just to keep it going. The proposed rec center will be about as expensive, not including the cost of construction.
The real rule is: if you build it, you will pay. And pay. The bond alone will last long enough that many of your kids will get to pay off some of it, but the maintenance and upgrades will be the gift that keeps on giving, long enough for their kids to ante up too.
But by then, some other sports facility will be the hot ticket. Enthusiasm for new toys can fade fast, but the credit card bill doesn’t care.
David North
Los Alamos

Sheriff Marco Lucero was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014 by stressing the importance of the sheriff’s role in Los Alamos. Majorities on County Councils, not including myself, have worked against this, drastically cutting his budget and ultimately calling an election last November to eliminate the office of sheriff. Our citizens disagreed, and voted to keep an elected sheriff.
Lucero will present a proposal at next week’s budget hearings to restore his office’s budget. I support returning the duties that have traditionally been done by the Los Alamos sheriff: process and writ serving, sex offenders tracking, transportation of prisoners and court security. Because most of these duties have recently been done by police officers (often on overtime) or contracted personnel, a full-time deputy sheriff (trained and certified by the New Mexico law enforcement academy) could do them more efficiently. Transfer of these duties would not increase the overall budget, since we are already spending the money for them in other departments.